Jim Walmsley is one of the best ultrarunners in the world, who a few days ago (12/10/2018), with Tim Freriks and Eric Senseman, set a new FKT on the dramatic and adventurous R2R2R.alt in the Grand Canyon.
Fastest Known Podcast
Coming to you every Friday: interviews with FKT-setters and other athletes in the world of Fastest Known Times.
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Episodes
In 2014 Justin Simoni, the “Long Ranger”, bicycled to all 58 of Colorado’s 14,000’ summits, climbed them, then biked to the next in 34+ days. In 2017 he upped the standard and in 60 straight days did the “Highest Hundred” (summits in CO) in the same self-powered, self-supported style. And his background is an artist, not an athlete.
Our first-ever live recording! The Trail Running Film Festival was on a nationwide tour when it stopped in Boulder (check to see if it's playing near you), and we recorded questions and comments directly from the audience.
Q: There are 3 styles of FKTs: Supported, Self-Supported, and Unsupported … which one is better?
Q: What’s the funnest thing the two of you have done together?
Nobody can do the big thru-hikes like Heather Anderson - she once held the Self-Supported Overall (not Female) FKT’s for the PCT, AT, and Arizona Trail - simultaneously.
Who is the first person to use the term "Fastest Known Time" in print?
Bill Wright co-wrote Speed Climbing: How to Climb Faster and Better in 2004, and has a family, a full-time job, and he climbs, bikes, or runs every day, and he balances all of that by ... going fast.
What’s a 26 year old former marathon runner doing setting the FKT on the fabled Longs Peak North Face (Cables) route?
“The FKT idea is real motivating to me - it takes away external pressure, but in other ways it adds more pressure because it’s internal - it’s all up to you.”
This past weekend Christof Teuscher became the first person to attempt and complete a quad-crossing of the Grand Canyon. That's Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim times four, (OK... R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R)!
Kyle Richardson was only 22 years old on Aug 1, when he set the new FKT on the high and technical LA Freeway.
David Horton won the first two editions of the Hardrock 100, finished the Barkley Marathons, has both run and biked across the country, and was the only person to hold the overall FKT on both the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. He knows a thing or two, including thoughts about the recent FKT action on the fabled AT.
Alyssa is a “Professional Triathlete who can’t seem to shake her ultrarunning habit”. She has finished 30 Ironman Triathlons, 40 ultra races, and once finished 4th in the Taiwan Ironman using all borrowed gear. On July 31, 2018, she set a new women's FKT on Vermont’s 273 mile Long Trail of 5 days, 2 hours.
Scott is one of the best ultrarunners in history, winning the Hardrock 100, Badwater in Death Valley, the Spartathlon in Greece, and an unprecedented 7 wins in a row at the Western States 100. In 2016 he and his wife Jenny took on a personal project, the 2,200mi Appalachian Trail, setting a new FKT of 46 days, 9 hours. This journey became a book on the New York Times Best Seller List, entitled, North: Finding My Way on the Appalachian Trail (
Learn how a Belgian dentist set the FKT on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016, then in 2018, was over four days faster on the Appalachian Trail than two of the fastest ultra-runners in the US.
"I start to hit my stride after 2,000 miles."
"Sometimes being successful means just getting back to the car. Alive..." Learn about Tony’s success on the Long’s Peak Triathlon, why free-soloing is all about “how you feel”, and why FKTs are only limited by your own creativity.